The invention concerns a device for handling of cables on seismic vessels on the vessel's after deck, especially the gun arrangement sections, i.e. the gun arrays of gun cables, whereby several gun cables are transferred and stored on the deck, hanging on suspension rails, while the inner section of the cables is wound on to winding drums, where a slip is arranged for deployment/recovery of the cables into/out of the water and where in addition there are normally winch drums for streamer cables on the deck.
The gun arrangement section of the gun cable is usually called a gun array. This term will be used in the following to describe the gun cable's gun arrangement section.
At the present time most seismic surveys at sea are conducted using specially built ships whose after decks are designed for storing and handling the seismic gun cables and detection cables or streamer cables, which constitute the means whereby the seismic surveys are performed. The gun array comprises groups of seismic energy sources which transmit pulses into the water, the reflections from these being intercepted by the detection cables or streamer cables which transmit the signals back to the vessel for processing. Developments in survey methods in recent years have led to the situation where behind the vessel there are now towed a number of gun cables with gun arrays in parallel alongside one another, and several streamer cables are also used for the reception of the reflection signals. The design and construction of the individual elements have also been under constant development in order to improve the signal quality and to increase the vessel's productivity. This development has led to an increase in the amount of equipment, resulting in major problems on board the seismic vessels where, due to the dimensions of this equipment, the available space has become progressively smaller. There is a constant need for maintenance work on the gun arrays, and in addition the gun arrays often have to be reconstructed. There is therefore a great need for improvement in the handling routines and above all in the storage and working facilities on board the vessel.